Is Renting Becoming The New Normal?

Yes, but not by choice for many. We're generation rent, getting strawberry floated over by Buy-to-let landlords.

A side effect of this process is that at least one generation has almost no DIY skill because of the terror behind the sentence "damage to property will invalidate your deposit". I can do almost nothing to my flat - it took ages to find things called Command Strips that let you put up pictures without damaging the walls. Any other problems and I call the letting agents and they get things sorted for me. That part is good, I just go "there is a problem, deal with it" and it gets dealt with and I pay nothing, but as has been said, all the money is just disappearing into someone else's pocket and I have no property asset value at all.

It's not necessarily better or worse, my family were much better off renting than paying a mortgage and the landlords have been fine, however the short notice before moving sucks and the estate agents do become meddling banana splits when they feel that they have to do something to keep their clients happy. On one inspection they thought they'd found a crack in the bath/shower (it was a hair!) and this caused like 4 follow up visits before they backed down and realised it wasn't a strawberry floating crack.

Also it's very galling how every time we've moved it's all the new houses that are up for rent, it seems like a good half of every new estate is bought up, and then rented by people who already own at least one house and have no intention of living in the new property.

I earn enough and with Anungs savings we could get a mortgage, but I have no interest in it. I don't really like throwing money away renting, but I love the flexibility. I'm not sure yet where I want to live permanently and don't want to be tied down until I'm sure I won't want to up an move again. I have no intention of buying until after I'm 30, but it is definitely something I'd want to do eventually.

Renting truly is a depressing reality for our generation. Many of the things already stated in this topic are correct and pretty much sum up my feelings. I'd like to be able to get a mortgage in a couple of years via help to buy but when landlords are routinely charging more money to rent per month in comparison to what the cost of a mortgage would be, it's hopeful at best. If my forecasting is right then all should go to plan.

In response to Cal's questions - I do not want to be at the mercy of the various landlords whose pockets my rent is lining.

I want a mortgage because I want to be able to live in relative comfort when I'm older. I want the equity and flexibility in terms of creating a home that owning your own property provides. In order to achieve that I likely will need to be mortgage free. At the moment neither myself or my partner have any debts and we're pooling our cash together - our main problem is that we're paying £700-£800 per month in rent - and its a circle that for many people is becoming increasingly difficult to get out of.

Add in letting agent "fees", the general cost of living, and perhaps the odd night out having a life, putting away a meaningful amount of cash in savings each month (and by that I mean >£500) is tougher than ever.

Bunni wrote:I earn enough and with Anungs savings we could get a mortgage, but I have no interest in it. I don't really like throwing money away renting, but I love the flexibility. I'm not sure yet where I want to live permanently and don't want to be tied down until I'm sure I won't want to up an move again. I have no intention of buying until after I'm 30, but it is definitely something I'd want to do eventually.

That's a massive thing, in fairness. If I'd bought before I was 30, I'd have ended up either in a city I didn't want to stay in, or with a girl I didn't want to be with, or both ( :dread:

).

While waiting til I was 32 wasn't intentional, it worked out for the best as I knew where I was staying, and with whom.

Last edited by Cal on Tue Apr 07, 2015 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Floex wrote:Do you move around alot Cal? That seems to be your major reasoning for renting.

Not really. I've lived in my present place for four years or so. I just like knowing that if I want things to change I can make it happen with the minimum of fuss.

Floex wrote:As for an ISA, there simply arn't strong enough rates at the moment. Investing is all well and good but that doesn't bring much stability with your money.

Perhaps. Horses for courses.

More generally:

One thing I would really like to see a new Government tackle is the rented market. I think high rental costs are a direct by-product of this country's love affair with property ownership. And it's a self-destructive love affair, which - in a nation which increasingly sees a house as a financial weapon (an asset) - is only harming those who are progressively more and more disenfranchised from the market. That Halifax report is telling us what we all already know: that if you're not 'in the property-owning club' already your chances of joining any time soon are becoming ever more unlikely. I do think that it's a social injustice that tenants are often paying per month on rented accommodation more than they might have to find for a mortgage every month. The stumbling block to property ownership no longer seems to be an 'ability to meet monthly mortgage repayments' but in finding that initial £20k+ cash deposit.

This is a very unsatisfactory state of affairs - but it's been like this for decades and no government has ever had the moral courage to tackle it.

Im on a very good wage for a youth, but buying a house is a distant hope

I dont really want to buy a house either, so whatever

My workmate has bought 5 houses this year to let, and cant see how things like that impact young people trying to buy their first houses - "you could do this too if you just saved for a house instead of doing the other things you do"

on the flipside my brothers and I are set to inherit our parents house when they pop it so theres that

Cal wrote:
Floex wrote:Do you move around alot Cal? That seems to be your major reasoning for renting.

Not really. I've lived in my present place for four years or so. I just like knowing that if I want things to change I can make it happen with the minimum of fuss.

I've recently bought a place and yes I do see it as an investment as well as a home. Not that I'm even thinking of this but if I say I did need to leave or move elsewhere it's a good feeling to know I have property that can potentially work for me. Need to leave? Bring in a tenant to cover costs while I'm gone.

Sure they may (most definitely) be maintenance issues from time to time but again it's nice knowing the money I put into the place is a worth while investment.

I miss my house.

Had to sell when divorcing, and the fucked-up finances of the settlement (don't even get me started on this) left my ex able to afford to buy again and me to... not. I'd love another house one day, but I can't see how at the moment.

Bunni wrote:I earn enough and with Anungs savings we could get a mortgage, but I have no interest in it. I don't really like throwing money away renting, but I love the flexibility. I'm not sure yet where I want to live permanently and don't want to be tied down until I'm sure I won't want to up an move again. I have no intention of buying until after I'm 30, but it is definitely something I'd want to do eventually.

This pretty much sums up my feelings at 28 except I couldn't afford to buy now anyway. I have started making an effort to save more so I'll be in a position to buy in a few years. I have probably a third of what I'd need now so a few years saving should get me there. I could probably already be there now but over the last 3-4 years (when I've been earning a decent wage) I've opted to spend money travelling instead.

But yeah, I really don't know where I'll be in a few years, and career wise it could be beneficial yo have the option to move so even though my rent payments are high (when compared to what a mortgage would be), I'm happy to have that flexibility.

I have experience both ways and I dont like either.

I used to rent, but then landlord became a greedy asshole and jacked up the price massively after my fixed term came to an end. I decided then I didn't want to be beholden to anyone so I decided to buy.

I bought a 2 bed flat, unfortunately I bought at height of property boom so I paid massively over price. How was I to know the market would collapse 6 months after I bought it. However I was happy there, it was affordable and I could make it my own.

Then I met my GF, the place became too small and we had a dilemma. I couldn't sell as i would lose huge amount of money and be saddled with massive debt and no house. This left me helpless and burdened with a flat I no longer wanted. Eventually I bit the bullet and decided to rent it out. The market wasn't great so I actually rented it out making a small loss.

This did however allow us to rent somewhere bigger. Luckily this time the landlord is very good and have given guarantee they won't change price.

Last week however my tenant gave notice. I now have to decide again whether to continue renting or look to sell. I'm hoping the value has picked up a bit. I will still make a loss on what I paid but if I can break even on mortgage I just want rid of it.

People kept saying "you can't go wrong with bricks and mortar, just get on the ladder" etc. well they were wrong!

Once I've rid of the flat me and the Gf will be in a position to buy a decent family home, but until then I'm stuck with a money pit!

TLDR: buying can strawberry float up your freedom but renting can cost a fortune.

Rental prices are driven by the housing market. Not enough houses in this country tbh and land is expensive = high house prices. Which leads to high rental prices (which will always be above monthly equivalent mortgage costs).

The source of the problem is not enough housing being built over the last 20 years, plus some other issues with social housing policies. Both major political parties are at fault.

I don't blame landlords at all tbh. It's the housing system in general that's the problem.

Isn't it a lot more common in Europe for renting than in England?

At present I have no issue with renting as I have no plans to stay in one place. Agree though, some landlords can be useless banana splits.

The thing is. It seems like a lot of young people would rather move out as soon as they can than stay at home and save up for a house. I know not everybody has the option, but a lot of people do, but feel the need to move out (because of some stigma about living at home I guess?) instead of staying at home and saving up.

I mean it obviously depends on your lifestyle too, people who travel around a lot aren't going to want to buy and be tied down.

Frank wrote:If you're renting you'll never have anything to show for the money you're putting into it. It's like living in a hotel for your entire life. You can't paint a wall, put a picture up, renovate the bathroom, install a pool.

You're just living in someone else's house. It'll never be your home.

Buying is infinitely better than renting, because you can actually make it a house that you want to live in.

My thoughts exactly.

Social housing is a riot. Council houses that are given out to needy people should be re-assessed every 5 years or so, if the circumstances change to make them ineligible for a council house they should either move, buy the house or pay a standard local area rent, giving the council extra money to build new houses and freeing up some of the houses to give to new needy people. I don't see why people should still be paying a subsides rate for a council house if they no longer require it to be subsidised, especially with families living in b&bs and unstable homes because of a lack of permanent ones.

Case in point, my aunt got a council house when she had two young children on a low income. They grew up and she needed a bigger house (boy and girl unable to share a bedroom) They then still required a council house when my uncle became unable to work. 5 years later the kids are grown up, both working and uncle is back in work. They're still paying £400 a month rent to the council which is about half that of a normal rent for that area. Now there's 4 adults earning a full time wage. No reason they couldn't buy the house or pay a larger rent in line with the area average to subsidise those like themselves who needed help in the early days.

ProPoser wrote:
Cal wrote:Nobody has ever convinced me of the 'advantages' of owning rather than renting property. Can you? Would you even want to?

The idea of paying someone else's mortgage sticks in my throat massively. I've had my fair share of shady landlords over the years, and they were all tight-as-fuck, money-grabbing splits.

Yes, in terms of risks, they are identical, as you point out. But since we bought our first house in 2011, the gf and I have, together, built up circa £40k of equity.

While I accept it still doesn't feel like real money (nor is it), it still beats the gooseberry fool out of building up someone else's equity. 45 months have passed since we first bought our house. At, say £550 a month, which is what it'd cost to get anywhere near as nice as the houses we've had, that'd be almost £25k of my earnings in someone else's pocket. strawberry float that.

My exact same thoughts Poser. I'm in my first house after saving for about 2 and a bit years with the wife and when i say save i mean we really strawberry floating saved. She was putting in 300 a month into savings and i did 300 as well, it was tough as we basically didn't have much spare cash but now we have a house it's brilliant and i can be happy in the knowledge that i have some money put in to a building rather than someone else getting it.

Fade wrote:The thing is. It seems like a lot of young people would rather move out as soon as they can than stay at home and save up for a house. I know not everybody has the option, but a lot of people do, but feel the need to move out (because of some stigma about living at home I guess?) instead of staying at home and saving up.

I mean it obviously depends on your lifestyle too, people who travel around a lot aren't going to want to buy and be tied down.

I moved out when i was 18 and to me it was about becoming an adult, leading my own life and getting some freedom.As soon as people start getting to 21-22 and living at their parents house i guess i just find it a bit sad really if they can actually afford to live away from home. Sometimes then some people never even move out or if they do they need an almighty push as they basically have become giant man child's with no idea how to look after themselves. There are some who stay at home to save money up at a young but it's very rare.

Is Renting Becoming The New Normal?

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